Top-seeded Northwestern advanced to its fourth consecutive national title game after defeating No. 4 seed Johns Hopkins 16-11 in the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse semifinals on Friday at Martin Stadium in Evanston, Illinois.
A lacrosse-record crowd of 6,242 spectators witnessed the Wildcats improve to an 18-3 overall record, securing their 15th appearance in the national championship game.
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Sophomore attacker Aditi Foster scored three goals, while senior attacker Madison Taylor recorded four goals and senior attacker Maddie Epke contributed multiple scores to suppress a second-half comeback attempt by the Blue Jays, who finished their season at 17-5.
Northwestern established a dominant 10-3 lead by halftime, winning nine consecutive draws across the second and third quarters before Johns Hopkins mounted a four-goal scoring run spearheaded by attacker Ava Angello.
University of North Carolina advanced to Sunday's championship game after defeating University of Maryland in the first semifinal, setting up the final round against Northwestern at Martin Stadium.
Historic Hosting in the Midwest
The matchup represented the first time the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championship weekend was hosted outside of the Eastern time zone.
Head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller discussed the significance of breaking the geographic tradition during a press conference at the Walter Athletic Center.
"As a lacrosse person, you always have to travel to the East Coast for recruiting tournaments. Everything is on the East Coast," said Amonte Hiller.
The veteran coach highlighted the extensive administrative and community efforts required to organize the tournament infrastructure in the Midwest after Northwestern originally secured the hosting bid in January 2025.
